


One of Each

by sconesandtextingandmurder



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Basketball, Fluff, M/M, NBA, portland trail blazers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6072154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sconesandtextingandmurder/pseuds/sconesandtextingandmurder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The guy didn’t have the money, but what he did have was two tickets to the Blazer game tonight.  Club level, free food, the works.”  Dean smiles broadly at Cas. “So, we may be sleeping in the car again, but I’m taking you out first.”  </p>
<p>Castiel has no idea what a Blazer game is, but if Dean’s happy, that’s good enough for him.  </p>
<p>As they drive to the arena, Dean attempts to give Cas a quick basketball tutorial but the more he explains, the more questions Cas has: Why do they want to put the ball in the hoop?  Wouldn’t it be more efficient to run with the ball in their hands?  Why do people pay so much to watch adults play a game with a ball?</p>
            </blockquote>





	One of Each

“Ok, look.“ Dean glances over at the pool table, having scoped a mark.  “Hustling pool means lying my ass off and it’s not going to work if you keep popping up to correct me.”  

Cas, sitting across from him in the booth, nods solemnly.  

Stopping to take a drink of his beer, he continues.  “We are seriously low on funds and if I don’t make some cash tonight, it’s going to be the Impala Motel.”

“I didn’t mind the last time we slept in the car.” Cas’s eyes warm at the memory.  

Dean can’t help grinning at him.  There hadn’t been a whole lot of actual sleeping that night.  But that had been in Texas and they’d kept the windows open, balmy air cooling feverish skin.  Their last case had brought them just outside of Portland and it had done nothing but rain and be unrelentingly shitty since they’d crossed the Oregon border.  

Dean works to regain his serious expression, holding up a finger in warning.  “Stop distracting me, Cas. Think of heat.  And _showers_.”  Oh great.  Now who’s doing the distracting?  He shakes his head a little to refocus.  “I’m going over there.  All you have to do is sit here and look pretty.  You can do that in your sleep, right?”

“Dean, you know I don’t sleep.” Cas said in his We’ve Been Over This tone.  “You, however, look quite fetching when you sleep.”  He tilts his head and frowns slightly.  “Although sometimes there is drooling.”

“Dude.  That’s Twilight level creepy.” Thankfully the bar is dark enough to hide the flush spreading across his face.  “Ok, I’m off.”  He nudges his knee into Cas’s under the table before making his way to the pool table.

An hour later, Dean’s into the mark for $300 and the guy is starting to look panicked.  Cas watches from the booth, tensed and ready to react as they argue, but before he feels the need to step in, Dean walks back and slides calmly back into the booth.  

Cas looks at him questioningly.

“The guy didn’t have the money, but what he did have was two tickets to the Blazer game tonight.  Club level, free food, the works.”  He smiles broadly at Cas. “So, we may be sleeping in the car again, but I’m taking you out first.”  

Castiel has no idea what a Blazer game is, but if Dean’s happy, that’s good enough for him.  

As they drive to the arena, Dean attempts to give Cas a quick basketball tutorial but the more he explains, the more questions Cas has.   _Why do they want to put the ball in the hoop?  Wouldn’t it be more efficient to run with the ball in their hands?  Why do people pay so much to watch adults play a game with a ball?_

Dean finally gives up. Doing his best not to sound like a tired parent telling his child _Because I said so_ he sighs and repeats, “It’s sports. It’s for entertainment.”   He thinks for a moment.  “And it’s indoors and warm and dry and nobody will be trying to kill us.  And did I mention the free food?”

***

Inside the arena, they make their way through the crush of hyped-up sports fans.  Cas stays close to Dean, looking suspiciously around them at the horde of people.  “I’m surprised you’re comfortable in this sort of setting. “

“Relax, dude.  There are cameras everywhere.  Even if the place was full of werewolves, they’d be on their best behavior.”  Dean sees the dirty look Cas throws a man with a bushy beard and touches his shoulder.  “It’s fine, I swear.”

The seats are in the second level, close enough to the front that they have a great view of the court.  Perhaps Dean should’ve prepared Cas a little more for the spectacle surrounding the game because between the flashing lights, the blaring music, and the cheering crowd, he’s starting to look a little overwhelmed.  

Things calm down a bit for tip off and Cas busies himself reading the program and the player stat sheet while Dean watches the game.  During one time out, the dancers bounce onto the court to perform an athletic dance routine.  Dean eyes their skimpy outfits and is just leaning over to see if Cas might ever be interested in some, uh, creative role playing when Cas suddenly lifts his head, colliding it with Dean’s nose hard enough to make his eyes water.  

“Dean!” he says in a shocked tone.

Jesus, has the angel read his mind?  So far he’s been totally open to anything Dean suggests, but perhaps he draws the line at sparkly spandex skirts.  Dean’s getting ready to apologize when Cas shows him the program.

“Many of these people are much taller than Sam.”

“I know.  They’re NBA players.”

Cas sits back in his seat, frowning.  “I find that unsettling.”

Maybe in another life, Sam would’ve grown up playing basketball, putting that height to good use.  Hell, one of the guys on the Blazers went to Stanford.  Looks like Sideshow Bob but he’s pulling down a lot of cash as an adult playing a game with a ball for a living.  (Of course, in that other life, maybe Sam’s feet wouldn’t have always seemed two sizes bigger than the rest of him and his arms and legs would have been tools of fluid grace instead of oversized puppy limbs.)  

Cas is watching the game now, squinting as the players run up and down the court. Dean knows the questions are coming, so he cuts him off before they start. “Why don’t you go get us some snacks?  All you do is show them your wristband and you can take whatever you want.”

Cas turns his focus away from the game and onto Dean.  “What should I get?”

“I don’t care.  Whatever looks good,” Dean says without taking his eyes off the game.  

Cas stands awkwardly at his seat until the couple at the end of the row notice him. When they stand up, he shuffles past them to climb the cement stairs out of their section and into the concourse.  

Dean watches the game, relishing the feel of doing something so friggin’ _normal_ , for a change. He stands and cheers with the crowd, exchanging high fives with the people in front of him after a particularly vicious dunk. It’s only a temporary reprieve, they’ll be back to monsters and grave dust tomorrow, but as these things go, it ‘s a pretty good one.  

The feeling of relief starts to wane as the horn sounds for another time out and he realizes Cas has been gone for a surprisingly long time. Seriously, all he had to do was take the food he wanted and show the cashier his wristband.  There’s no reason it should be taking this long.  Maybe he’d forgotten their section number? Dean never should’ve sent him out on his own.  Just as he’s decided to go look for him, he checks the top of the section again and there Cas is, framed in the doorway.

He has a plate containing a large slice of pizza and a container piled high with nachos balanced in his hands and two cans of soda tucked between his body and his elbows.  A long red licorice rope is draped around his shoulders.  Navigating the narrow steps as he tries to balance the food, he looks more serious than Dean has ever seen him. The crowd erupts in cheers around him, but Dean keeps his back to the game, watching Cas make his way toward him.  

When he gets to their seats, Dean stands to take the food out of his hands and sits down, expecting Cas to follow suit.  Instead, Cas sets down the sodas then reaches into his pockets.  Out comes a package of peanuts, a bag of Skittles, and a Snickers bar. Dean lifts the pizza and nachos to chest level so Cas can deposit the snacks in his lap.  

Cas is still standing up at his seat when a voice from behind them yells _Down in front!_

“Shut it!” Dean calls over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Cas who has moved on to the inside pockets of his coat.  He unearths a bag of chips, a foil wrapped hot dog, an ice cream cup, and two bags of M&Ms (plain and peanut).

Dean uses his elbows to keep the pile from sliding off his lap as Cas finally takes his seat.  

Cas holds his hands out helplessly.  “I didn’t know what to get, so I got everything.”  He looks completely defeated.  “I didn’t have enough hands for popcorn and I know you like that, too.”

“You did good,” Dean reassures him, trying not to laugh at the fact that Cas can take down demons but he’s been vanquished by an all-you-can-eat snack bar.  “Really.  It’s perfect.”  

Cas looks at him skeptically.

“What we don’t eat now, we’ll take with us.” Dean tells him. “We’ll have a…a car picnic.”  Is that a thing?  It’s a thing now.  Especially if it gets that stressed look off of Cas’s face.

Cas brightens and reaches towards Dean for the nachos.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this back when [Robin Lopez](http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3447/robin-lopez) was still on the team. The all-you-can-eat wristbands are also a thing of the past, more's the pity.
> 
> Dedicated to [cluelessakemi](http://cluelessakemi.tumblr.com/) who got dragged to a Trail Blazer game with me last night.


End file.
